Motor has soft ticking

[judyfish99]

AAAAAARRRRGgggggghhhhh!! Whenever the 1992 2 stroke 90hp Force warms up, there is a slight soft ticking sound. Does not do this when first start-up. I hope this is not serious... :whazzup: I had the water impellor changed out last year, so it is pumping out water.

[SOL]

Ticking? or a Pinging sound? Usually you don't have too much pinging at low idle speeds, but could be some poor quality gas. This sound occur at WOT? If thats the case might trying mixing in a few gallons of premium into your tank.

[judyfish99]

It is a soft ticking sound and only when the motor warms up at all speeds. I added 10 gallons of unleaded fuel at the gas station located at Cedar Hills Blvd and Murray. Still doing it when warmed up. Almost sounds like an exhaust leak on a car or a loosened spark plug. :shrug:

[Starfish]

I don't know why it would happen only when warmed up, but it might be worth taking the cowling off and idling the motor in the dark and see if you can see any arcing on the wiring. If it's bad enough you might be able to spot it with the motor off by looking for a scorched dot on one of the spark plug wires where it comes close to the powerhead or another wire. With the cowling off you also might be better able to hear it if it's an exhaust manifold gasket or an intake manifold leak.

A look at your plugs might tell you if you're running lean from an air leak. If you find a spot where you might be leaking in air but you're not sure, a little squirt of WD-40 or starter fluid at that spot while running will tell you because of a jump in RPMs. I wouldn't try that at the exhaust end though...

That tapped out more than my limited knowledge... good luck!

[bigredapes]

you could have a cracked exhaust manifold. The crack could be such that when cold it's mostly closed off, but as the motor heats up and parts expand (especially a hot exhaust manifold) the crack will open up.

[judyfish99]

Thank you so much for the advice :bowdown:....Sportcraft wants $80 an hour labor, so this is something that I may do myself. I'll back up the boat somewhere (?)into water if it isn't crowded at the boatramp to check on it while running... :flowered: I'd hate to fork out $7400 for a fourstroke right now.... :bigshock: :passout:

[GSD]

Might check for:
Leaking exhaust manifold gasket.
Bad sparkplug - cracked or loose porcelain.

William

[StickFish]

I've got a 50 gallon barrel with a fitting for a garden hose at the bottom - if you want to borrow to diagnose let me know

[As yet un-named]

My '95 120hp force makes a very faint "ticking" also. I think I've narrowed it down to the check valve in the primer bulb. For whatever reason I grabbed the primer bulb one time while I was trying to figure out where the ticking was coming from and I could actuall feel the check valve "ticking" inside it. Might check that also. I can't really recal if its a warm or cold issue on my motor though, and I only generally hear it at or very near idle speeds. Anything higher and the ticking sound is drowned by the motor, so might be a very different issue for you.